Students join skate park fund-raising effort

ANDREA MOSS

Staff Writer

POWAY -- Tired of waiting for the city of Poway to find the
money needed to build a skate park, a group of students has joined
the fund-raising effort.

Meadowbrook Middle School eighth-grader Mitch Lederer, who
serves as an unofficial spokesman for the group, said Wednesday
that the endeavor started with a social studies class assignment
designed to teach kids how citizens can make a difference in a
democracy.

The assignment challenged students to identify and find a
reasonable solution for a community problem. Some kids chose to
focus on a perceived need for a crossing guard near the school or
the area's speed limit.

Mitch and 15 teammates zeroed in skateboarders' unhappiness with
a seven-month-old city ordinance that made it illegal to skate on
sidewalks, streets and other public areas where posted signs forbid
the activity.

Deputies from the Poway Sheriff's Station began enforcing the
ordinance in January. Violators face a $35 fine.

"I used to be a skateboarder, but then the law hit and I
stopped," Mitch, 14, said. "And we kept getting kids coming up to
us and telling us they kept getting tickets. … We decided we needed
to get (the law) changed."

After researching the situation, the students concluded the
ordinance makes sense for public safety reasons. But Mitch said the
group still felt kids need a place to skateboard.

So the group shifted its attention to the skate park.

The park was approved in concept by the City Council in 1999,
and a 19,000-square-foot lot next to Poway Community Park has been
set aside for the project. Preliminary designs were completed last
summer.

The 12,500-square-foot skate park is expected to cost $300,000
to $400,000.

A city committee formed last summer has been looking into
potential ways to raise the money. Lori Simon, who is spearheading
the effort, said Wednesday about $57,000 has been collected so
far.

Mitch and fellow student Amy Sergeant told the City Council last
week that they fear they won't see the skate park in their
lifetimes if the fund raising continues at its current rate.

Eager to speed the process, the students brainstormed about ways
to help raise money for the park. In addition to starting a
publicity campaign, they decided to start contacting companies that
manufacture skateboards and related items about possible
sponsorships, to lobby the city to set aside money collected from
skateboarding citations for the park and to create a potential
skate-a-thon or walk-a-thon.

The students sent e-mails to more than 20 companies identified
as potential donors for the park. A handful of those have
responded, said Mitch and his teacher, Christine Donnelly.

Community services director Robert Clark, who is overseeing the
skate park project, said he welcomes the youths' participation. He
and other city officials met with the students last week.

Clark said he found the group to be surprisingly responsible and
focused.

"You don't really believe they're as young as they are when
you're sitting there talking to them," Clark said. "I think (their
involvement) is wonderful. I think one of the main things that's
been missing in this is that the actual users of the park aren't in
the (fund-raising) loop."

Simon said she is particularly interested in the idea of seeking
donations for the park from the makers of skateboards,
skating-oriented clothing and other goods marketed to
teen-agers.

"They've opened a couple of doors that probably wouldn't have
opened to me quite so quickly," Simon said of the students. "For
the manufacturers, that's their target market. So of course (the
youngsters are) going to get their attention a lot faster than I
am. I say let the kids go for it."

Whether the students' efforts will be successful is a big
question. With the school year coming to an end in June, the
campaign could conceivably fizzle out.

But Mitch and fellow student John Villacortez, 13, said the
group is committed to continuing the fund-raising effort.

"I don't really think it's really done until we get the skate
park," John said.

Donnelly said the students will have accomplished something
regardless of how much money they raise.

"This shows them how much control they have over their
community," she said. "They took a real middle schooler's approach
to it at the beginning -- 'get rid of (the ordinance), it's
bad.'

"Then they switched their gears. And instead of being whiny
middle schoolers, they decided to try and help raise the money to
get (the park) built."

Clark said the youths' involvement will serve another
purpose.

"One of their key roles is in getting the real information out
about the park -- how much money does it cost, what's it going to
take, what are the concerns, where do we need their help as users,"
Clark said. "Just getting the word out to the actual users -- that
is something we just can't seem to do.

"So we're happy. And if they stick with it, this could be an
amazing experience for them."